It was a shocker that nobody saw coming — not even Kevin Cheveldayoff, the GM.

And certainly not captain Blake Wheeler.

The Winnipeg Jets’ acquisition of Paul Stastny at Monday’s NHL trade deadline came right out of the Blues.

“When I first caught wind of it, that it was a possibility, even just the possibility was really exciting,” Wheeler said. “Obviously his name wasn’t even out there so I was surprised to hear it. But my fingers were crossed.”

Not a single talking head had Stastny on their list for potential rental players, and for good reason.

The Blues were in the thick of the wildcard race in the West. Not exactly in selling position.

Then they hosted the Jets on Friday and lost their fifth in a row, by an embarrassing 4-0 count.

Two days later, they did it again, by a 4-zip count, against Nashville.

Two games against the top teams in the division, and two spankings with the proverbial measuring stick.

Sometime around or between those two games, Blues GM Doug Armstrong texted Cheveldayoff, who’d been having trouble landing a centre to bolster his playoff-bound Jets.

The deal was done quietly and quickly.

But the final say would go to Stastny, who could nix it with the no-trade clause in his contract.

Cheveldayoff told Wheeler the deal was pending, and Sunday night Wheeler called Stastny.

The two have a history, through USA Hockey programs and camps, through the agent they share and through a stint on a German team during the 2012-13 NHL lockout.

On Tuesday, two of Munich EHC’s top scorers for the early part of that season will be reunited.

“Yeah, I talked to him briefly,” Wheeler said. “I didn’t want to bother him too much. It was probably a whirlwind for him, when he first caught wind of it. To have to change gears on the fly is a lot for a player to have to go through. Any questions he had I was more than happy to answer.

“I wanted him to know we were excited about the possibility. From there, the rest was up to him.”

Not exactly the Tourism Winnipeg sales pitch.

But the Jets don’t have to try to sell the shopping or the nightlife or the weather – I mean, who’s kidding whom?

What they have to sell is on display in the NHL standings, and on the ice through 62 games.

“The opportunity to contend was more attractive than anything I was going to say,” is how Wheeler put it.

Not only did Stastny join a team on most players’ no-trade lists, he agreed to leave the city he grew up and lives in.

“That’s an exciting thing for us,” Cheveldayoff said. “And certainly I believe once he gets here it’s going to be a really exciting thing for him.”

After dealing with the shock, Stastny did get fired up at the possibilities.

“I think I can help them get even better and maybe be that piece for a long, extended run,” he told reporters in St. Paul, where the Blues are to play Minnesota on Tuesday.

That’s a far cry from the “pump the brakes” language used by Wheeler recently.

The trade itself signals the Jets are playing a whole new ball game: from also-ran to contender, in seven years.

“It wasn’t going to ruin my season if it didn’t happen,” Wheeler said. “For me, just seeing the appetite for it was enough for me.”

Stastny’s two-way talent fits like a glove. The only risk in making a bold move was upsetting the chemistry in a room that seems pretty tight.

“No brainer,” Wheeler said. “That’s almost maybe as exciting as what he brings to our team on the ice, is just that leadership in the room. Just another confident, veteran guy to maybe settle things down a little bit when we need to settle them down.”

If Cheveldayoff swung and missed at others, like Ottawa’s Derick Brassard, as was reported, a pretty nice Plan B seems to have fallen in his lap.

“When I found out that Paul was available, I put everything into that basket,” Cheveldayoff said. “So that was the move that I was willing to let everything else pass by to try and make.”

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